136 OFF ßR.O ADW A Y T HE performers, and especially the young performers, who make up h f " C ' d ." . t e cast U In y, a new musI- cal variation on an ancient theme, cer- tainly are a lively bunch, and Johnny Brandon (score and lyrics), Joe Sauter and Mike Sawyer (book), and :Marvin Gordon (direction and choreography) certainly have provided them with a great many entertaIning things to do. The background of the show at the Gate is Kreller's delicatessen, near Gramercy Park, where CIndy Kreller, the prettiest member of a not very dec- orative family, is a sort of slavey for her father, her stepmother, and her two stepsisters. The ball in this instance is a charity affair ("Keep Israel Green") that a Mrs. David Rosenfeld is throwing at the Plaza. The role of Fairy God- mother has been switched to the deliv- ery boy at the delicatessen, a fello T called Lucky, who borrows a party dress for Cindy from the dress factory where his aunt works. The pumpkin coach is his cousin's taxi. Prince Charm- ing is young Charles Rosenfeld, a medi- cal student ( "You dance divinely, Charles." "Thank you" other.") '\-\Then it is tart, the humor is alTI using, but when it becomes chickensoupy or arch, it gets quite annoying , f) - -... ....... --- ( . . . . · , ,.6 , .' . ) t1 '.:) t é OsJ< In addition to the players, there IS a chorus of three-Thelma Oliver, Tom- my Karaty, and Mark Stone-billed as the Storytellers. They comment on the plot and keep it moving-singing, set- ting up bits of scenery, particIpating In the action, doing some bracing jazz dancing-and Miss Oliver's flashing, sparkling impudence and all-round pro- ficiency add a lot to the mood of the show. Cindy is played by an attractIve girl named Jacqueline Mayro, who seems aware of her own strength, tech- nIcally speakIng, and her capacity for comedy, but totally unaware of her in- genuousness and charm. She is quite good, and could he even better if she played with just a touch more gentleness. Johnny Harmon's Lucky is Puck him- self; he sings and dances well, and he is a natural actor. Of the older generation, I admired Mike Sawyer and Lizabeth Pritchett, as :M r. and Mrs. Rosenfeld. As for the rest of the company, even those who appear to have gone just a step or two beyond amateur make up in ex- uherànce what they lack in finesse. The set, by Robert T. \?{illiams-a double- decker wooden structure with a break- neck flight of steps down one side-is ef- fective enough, I suppose, but terribly dangerous, and could be responsible for (3) l- o L ... :1 -- 7 = , -= 00 - ...... ..', more replacements in the cast than the management reckoned on. Martin Aronstein's lighting is particularly good. T HERE is surprising spirit in the English version of Calderón's Spanish classic, "Life 1<; a Dreàm," at the Astor Place-surprising to me, at any rate, as one who read it once, long ago, in a totally dreary translation. The present translation, by Roy Campbell, is anything but dreary, and that good actor, :yJichael Higgins, plays the lead- ing role with nohility, passion, and any WIt that opportunity affords him, which is not a great deal. Even so, it is not my favorite kind of drama, SInce its plotty plot appears at times to be just an elab- orate structure on whIch to drape philo- sophical speculations, and its characters spend less time acting it out than they do discoursing on predestination and free will, illusion and actuality, pride and humility, liberty and bondage, honur, revenge, and other abstract matters, and tossing around such wIsecracks as "Mis- fortunes reproduce themselves, are born, and live by dying." Much of this discourse, hy the way, along with many asides, is spoken directly to the audience. The plot, to sketch it in broadly and get it over with, concerns a prInce, heIr to the throne of Poland, who has been kept hidden in a dungeon all his life, because his birth, which killed his mother, was accompanied by grave meteorological portents His father, the King, decides to abdicate and give him a chance at the throne. If he can man- age it and hImself, he will be allowed to keep it. If not, he will be sent back to the dungeon, and his two cousins-a Duke of :yJ uscovy and a pnncess named Stel- la-will rule jointly in hIs place. Lest the Prince he hattered if he doesn't measure up, the KIng persuàdes him to think that his change in fortunes is all a dream. There is also a subplot dealing with a Muscovite girl who has been jilted by the Duke of Muscovy and comes to Po- land to avenge her honor. The production, under Jay Broad's direction, makes a quite successful at- tempt at stylizàtion. The play, which was written in 1635, is performed on an open wooden platform that is probably meant to resemble an outdoor stage at a fair; it begins with a long roll on a drum, as the actors, in seventeenth-century mummers' costumes (I guess), come out separately and bow to the audience; the hackdrop is made of wide hanging strips of cloth, through w hicn the char- acters enter; two actors sit, one at each side of the stage, serving when needed as courtIers, loyal subjects, and soldiers but mostly as prop and sound-effects